Protective package



April 1, 1941. MORSE 2,236,577

PROTECTIVE PACKAGE Filed Sept. 10, 1936 m z V 5 Patented Apr. 1, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT This invention relates to an improved manner and means for protecting mens shirts that have been laundered at a commercial laundry until used.

accompanyin sheet of drawings which illustrates a preferred form of this invention with the understanding that minor changes may be made without departing from the scope thereof. V

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a wrapper blank slit to carry out this invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan view of a shirt with collar attached employing this improved wrapper blank ready to leave the laundry.

Figure 3 is a bottom plan view of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 1 illustrating the application of this improved wrapper blank to a shirt with collar detached.

Figure 5 is a top end view of Figure 1, with a part of the collar and shirt broken away and shown in section.

In commercial laundries it is now almost universal practise to fold a clean shirt over a rectangular piece of cardboard of standard size to maintain the shape of the folded shirt during storage and transportation. Various types of wrappers have been placed about the shirt so folded about the cardboard to prevent the outer surface from becoming soiled and pins or other engaging means have been employed to hold the crossed over folds of the shoulder portions of the shirt snugly together, unless the wrapper completely envelopes the entire folded shirt. In the event the collar is attached to the shirt and starched or of a fabric to maintain its ironed shape the plane of the top of the collar, that is the turned over edges of a turned down collar, is spaced apart from the plane of the front or bosom of the shirt. This produces an article that is extremely difiicult to wrap, especially if it is desired after wrapping the shirt about the cardboard to bow out the board against the front or bosom of the shirt to draw it tightly against the board to prevent the formation of wrinkles when the package is handled.

To overcome these objections above mentioned this invention contemplates the provision of a flexible wrapper of paper, or the like, in the form of an oblong blank I, as shown inFigure 1, the longest dimension or edge 2 of which is sufficient to allow the blank to be wrapped about a shirt 3, after it has been folded over a cardboard 4, with the ends 5 of the blank lapped over each other at the back, as shown in Figure 3. The shorter dimension or end 5, of the rectangular blank I, is sufficient to cover the shirt from adjacent the top of the cardboard'4, about which the shoulder portions 6 of the shirt are wrapped, to adjacent the portion of the front or bosom of the shirt folded about the bottom of the cardboard. To allow the ends 5, of the Wrapper to be evenly drawn over each other and hold the cardboard '4 in the bowed position, as shown in Figure 5, without the parts of the shirt so wrapped lying in spaced apart planes, the upper edge of the longest dimension 2, of the blank is preferably provided with a center slit 1, extending at right angles thereto to a distance approximating the position of the front of the neck band 8, of the shirt 3. Two complementary slits 9 and Ill are provided at each side of the center of the upper .edge 2 of the rectangular blank I, arranged at an angle to the center line between them to approach each other and terminate in curved spaced apart portions II. The slits 9 and H! depart from the edge of the blank at a distance from each other a little greater than the neck band of the average shirt and extend downward a sufficient distance so that when the blank is wrapped about a folded shirt with its upper edge slightlybelowthe top folds of the folded shoulder portions 6, the spaced apart terminations II will be approximately in line with the front of the neck band of the folded shirt. The portion of the blank I, between the slits 9 and lil form a tab which is preferably divided centrally by the slit I to form two complementary tabs I 2 and IZ which may be flexed along the'line of jointure to the body of the blank or readily detached therefrom.

When a shirt 3 with a starched or laundered turned down collar [4 attached thereto is ready to leave the laundry, it is first folded over the oblong cardboard 4, with the folds of the upper shoulder portions 6 overlapping at the back of the board and the tail folded up over the bottom of the board and. improved wrapper l is applied. The wrapper I is readily centered over the front of the shirt with the tabs I2 and l2 on each side of the front button hole of the neck band with the upper edge slightly below the top folds of the folded over shoulder portion 6 of the shirt. Then the side edges 5 are drawn together at the back, the cardboard 4 bowed to stretch the shirt front over it, and the edges of the wrapper overlapped and secured at the center by a single seal i5. In drawing the edges 5 of the Wrapper over the folded shirt the front of the collar I4 flexes the tabs l2 and IZ so that the entire main body of the wrapper lies flat in the plane of the shirt front and allows a single seal l5 to hold it tight about the shirt and the bowed out cardboard 4. The wrapper l in this position not only insures that the shoulders 6 will be held in their overlapped relation with the corner of the outer fold held by the top of the wrapper from falling outward, but also the tabs l2 and l2 extending upward over the front of the collar l4 may be turned inwardly over the top of the collar to prevent the front of the collar from becoming soiled. It is desirable to employ with this Wrapper an additional collar protector in the form of a long narrow strip of flexible resilient cardboard which is preferably of slightly greater width than the heighth of the collar about its neckband. After the tabs I2 and l2 have been folded over the top of the collar the protector strip is curled upon itself and inserted within the neck band of the collar forcing the free ends of the tabs downwardly and when the protector strip expands it will hold or lock the ends of the tabs against the front of the collar, as shown in Figure 2.

As seen from the above description of the manner in which this improved wrapper is applied to the laundered shirt the particularly formed slits 9 and ID in the body of the wrapper allows the body of the wrapper to be drawn tightly and evenly about the front or bosom of the shirt and also over the points of the collar so that the wrapper and shirt front lie in the same plane and at the same time the wrapper is being so applied, the collar flexes the tabs l2 and I2 It is preferable to provide the central slit I to aid in the ease and neatness of appearance in folding the ends of the tabs over the front top of the collar at the front. While the collar support I6 is not necessary to the operation of the wrapper I, it is preferable because it not only adds to the neat appearance of the package by folding the tabs neatly over the front of the collar but it also prevents the collar from becoming rumpled when shirts are stacked one upon the other in storage or transportation.

This wrapper may be readily applied to shirts with detached collars as shown in Figure 4. In such a case the tabs I2 and l2 may either be tucked in over the front of the neck band 8 of the shirt or may be readily detached from the body of the wrapper l as illustrated in Figure 4.

What I claim is:

A wrapper for laundered collar attached shirts, folded about a form to protect both the collar and the shirt during storage and transportation, including a rectangular blank of flexible protective covering of sufficient size to be wrapped about the long edges of the folded shirt and overlapped at the back thereof, the upper straight edge portion of said blank provided with complementary angular slits leading from said upper straight edge portion arranged to receive the shirt collar between them and flex the tab of the body portion formed between said slits to cover the collar as the blank is wrapped about the folded shirt, said slits converging toward each other from said straight upper edge and terminating in portions curved toward each other at a distance from the top edge approximate the front of the neck band of the shirt, the upper end of said slits being arranged a sufiicient distance apart to pass over each side of said neck band and said tab being bifurcated by a central slit extending into the body of the tab and terminating short of the line between the terminations of the complementary slits.

LELAND R. MORSE. 

